Vice president of sales Jeffrey Verity already was an up-and-comer at Hobbs Group, a Columbia, Md.-based broker of risk-management insurance. So when he asked his boss what he could do to become even more valuable to the company, Mr. Verity was a bit surprised by the answer: take a leadership-development course.

"I've gotten to where I've gotten so far by stepping on people's toes, just because I'm young," admits the 32-year-old Mr. Verity, who notes that he's only three slots below the president's position on the corporate hierarchy. "But I want to be able to lead the people I work with and have them have tremendous confidence in what I do." So Mr. Verity recently completed the one-week leadership course along with 17 other Hobbs managers and executives and, he says, learned, among other things, how to begin developing his "people skills."

These days, competition is keener in nearly every industry. Managerial tenures are ever shorter. Bench strength is thinner because companies eliminated so many middle-management positions in the last decade. Now the economic downturn has narrowed most companies' margin for error.

In this kind of environment, even traditionally competent managers -- those who can direct operations, hire and fire people and even accomplish some great things -- aren't enough. So, like Hobbs Group, more and more companies are getting deliberate about developing leaders within their ranks.

Companies are striving to identify and nurture true difference-makers, individuals capable of distinguishing themselves by executing strategic master strokes, displaying remarkable tactical savvy and, most important, rallying and inspiring others.

"Having leaders is the ultimate competitive advantage," says Tom Tiller, chief executive officer of Polaris Corp., the Minneapolis-based manufacturer of outdoor recreational equipment, who learned about the value of leadership within the much-vaunted management structure of General Electric Corp. "Equipment and other resources are available to all competitors. The place where you differentiate is your people. How well you can select and grow and develop leadership is pretty much all I have to worry about." Adds Ray Jackson, associate dean of the leadership school for Unisys Corp., the Blue Bell, Pa.-based computer company: "We need leadership at every single level of the organization."

Yet today, 82% of organizations have a hard time finding qualified leaders, according to a recent Development Dimensions survey of 5,000 HR leaders, up from 74% two years ago. That difficulty opens the door wide for professionals who can position themselves as leadership material.

Here are seven factors to consider in developing and displaying your "leadership quotient":

Prepare for a detour in usual ladder-climbing: Companies are learning that successful career pathways are trod by people who lead more by example and service than by intimidation and fiat. Successful people "make decisions to be a leader and not just give up and be a manager," says Mr. Jackson of Unisys. They position themselves for promotions by "being honest, building trusting relationships, communicating and urging people to cooperate."

Wilton Cedeno understands that sort of message. "I like to see different points of view," says the manager of the Brooklyn steam plant for Consolidated Edison Co. of New York. "People say there are always two sides to a story; but I say there are eight sides. Our collective thinking is always better than my collective thinking."

The 37-year-old Mr. Cedeno has risen through various management positions in his 15 years with the utility, and Con Ed has encouraged him in part by enrolling him in an external leadership-development program that includes New Yorkers from all walks of life. "I see myself one day running my own electrical company, or maybe I could be running for a city council seat," Mr. Cedeno says. "I want to impact an entire organization."

Remember: It's not all genetics. Are leaders born or can they be made? Increasingly, companies and leadership experts say the latter, which is great news for career-minded professionals. "People are all over the map in terms of innate abilities," says Gene Morrissy, of RHR International Co., a Wood Dale, Ill.-based management-psychology firm. "The more you've got, the easier it is to fine-tune, but certainly almost anybody can improve in their leadership skills."

Leadership isn't just about making life-risking moves or engineering 180-degree strategic turns. "Leading means that you're central in making sure that the groups you're responsible for, or part of, have a sense of direction. That people are motivated or committed to that direction and purpose. And that you're able to solve ... problems that aren't easy, that don't have a clear solution, that people don't all agree on how to solve," says Cynthia McCauley, vice president of leadership development for the Center for Creative Leadership, an executive-education firm based in Greensboro, N.C.

Good leadership can function like a sort of corporate Wizard of Oz -- helping people identify and nurture the capabilities that they already harbor inside themselves. Top executives believe they were born with 40% of their leadership ability but developed the remaining 60% through their experiences, asserts a recent national survey of more than 300 company presidents and CEOs by Caliper, a Princeton, N.J.-based human-resources consulting firm. "People develop from three big categories of things," Ms. McCauley says. These include job assignments, relationships and formal training.

Know what they're looking for... Increasingly, companies are seeking ways to identify future leaders. "Do they have conceptual flexibility?" says Mr. Morrissy. "What's their intellectual horsepower? What is their interpersonal style, and how do they influence people? Do they have a global mindset, scanning the horizon laterally instead of just operating in their silos? How do they develop talent in their own organization? How much do they get out of people in terms of high standards and accountability? Do they have a customer mindset?"

Thomas Theodore, a Wynnewood, Pa.-based human-resources consultant, urges companies to look for people who are "pretty secure in themselves. They have all the same quirks and problems as the rest of us but ... they also have a kind of a passion to do things. They're very forthright in their communications; there's a level of maturity that comes across...Their peers recognize them as someone they respect. And they are calculated risk-takers. Not wild and crazy -- but willing to take risks that others aren't."

... But don't forget yourself: At the same time, there won't be much reward in corporate advancement if you feel like you're living outside of your skin. "It's important to be clear about who you are, and what your values are, so that you know what your boundaries are, and how they align with the company's core values," says Bette Price, co-author of "True Leaders: How Exceptional CEOs and Presidents Make a Difference by Building People and Profits" (Dearborn Trade, 2001).

Self-accountability includes managing your own career instead of allowing it to be managed by others. "Your career is your business," reminds Robert Shereck, founder of Legacy Transformational Consulting Inc., a San Anselmo, Calif.-based company. "It doesn't belong to the organization. Don't surrender that accountability to an organization. Always be building your own brand."

Get used to the fish bowl: Leadership development increasingly stresses taking a "360-degree view" of potential leaders -- gathering critiques not only from superiors, the traditional perspective, but also from peers and underlings as well. "Some people are really good at working 'up,' but don't do very well side to side or 'down,' " says Janet Weatherbe, executive director of global human resources for General Motors Corp. "The ideal leader is someone who can deal with all people issues in a positive way and also knows how to get bottom-line results."

Develop long coattails: Developing your subordinates becomes a testament to your own leadership skills, says Edward Reilly, president of the American Management Association in New York. "If you have people below you, it's wise by almost any definition to inculcate a desire for leadership on the part of those people as well. If everyone in your department has a desire for leadership, you will be more likely to accomplish the goals you've set out."

People trust other people, says Tom Tierney, a director of Bain & Co., the Boston-based consulting firm, "if they trust their motives. Arrogance draws attention; humility draws respect. If you're trying to influence people all around you, they'll be more influenced if they honestly believe in your motives."

Raise your hand: The best way to raise your visibility as a potential leader within your company may be to step outside your narrow job and get involved in other projects, "even if that's volunteering to be chair of the annual banquet," says Carol Dell'Amore, director of the National Leadership Institute at the University of Maryland/University College. "It exposes you to other people in the organization as a person who can effectively accomplish a project. And if you are, in fact, an effective leader, those skills will be demonstrated -- it doesn't matter what the work is."

Mr. Tierney, author of the new book, "Aligning the Stars: Organizing Professionals to Win" (Harvard Business School Press, 2002), adds that leaders must "step forward and assume special assignments to begin to exercise your leadership muscle. It's impossible to develop skills and the reputation of leadership without being in situations that allow you to do that."

But, Ms. Dell'Amore warns, such gambits can backfire "if they're only about your personal ambition. You have to have authenticity. If you're truly interested in the goal at hand, and mobilizing people around that goal, then it's not about your own self-interest, and being noticed and appreciated is more or less a secondary gain."

Jodi Caplan has been a volunteer warrior for five years at J.P. Morgan Chase in New York City, where she manages arts- and sports-sponsorship programs for the Chase Manhattan unit. She was in part rewarded with a place in Coro New York Leadership Center's Leadership New York program, along with Mr. Cedeno of Con Ed. "It has provided me with knowledge, experience and confidence to assume more of a leadership role in my career and an ability to take on work that has greater positive impact in people's lives," says the 34-year-old.